Meeting children’s sleep, rest,

and relaxation needs

Babies and toddlers in ECEC

To support the development of healthy

life-time sleep practices, educators need
to work with children and families to
provide appropriate opportunities to
meet each child’s need for sleep, rest,
and relaxation.
Services use a range of practices to manage
sleep, rest, and relaxation needs.
The approach that a service uses will be
influenced by many factors including the age
and characteristics of the children, the needs
of families and the community, and the
physical environment space and layout.

In thinking about sleep, rest, and relaxation

Supporting sleep, rest, and practices, consider the 5 principles of
relaxation in babies and toddlers S.L.E.E.P.

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Sleep is essential for baby and toddler growth and
learning. As with all areas of development, there
are large differences in children’s need for sleep, Sleep Need
rest, and relaxation. Children of the same age Identify and respond to each
can have quite different sleep patterns and sleep child’s need.

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needs. For example, there is wide variation in the
number, timing and duration of naps between
individual children across their first three years of Learning and Growth
life. The sleep needs of a child may also change Use sleep, rest and relaxation
from day to day (e.g. if a child did not have enough as opportunities for learning.

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sleep the night before, or if they are unwell). This
means that there will often be a large range of
needs and preferences within any one service. Environments
In the first 12 months, when there is a risk of Provide a safe, predictable
sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI), and supportive environment.

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including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), a
key concern is to ensure that sleep environments
are safe. This requires attention to the baby’s
Expectations
sleep positioning, the sleep environment, and Be flexible in your
expectations.

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supervision. Maintaining regular sleep patterns
supports healthy development and learning for
all babies and toddlers. Consideration of ways to Partnerships
support a sufficient amount and regularity of sleep
Build partnerships to support
for children in early childhood education and care
sleep regularity and routine.
(ECEC) services is important. Central to this goal
is working in partnership with parents through
ongoing two-way communication about sleep and
rest needs.
When implementing sleep, rest, and relaxation practices for babies and toddlers, consider the five
principles of S.L.E.E.P.:

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Sleep Need In planning provisions for sleep, rest, and
Consider when opportunities for sleep, rest, and relaxation are relaxation consider:
provided, and ways to identify and respond to each child’s need. • When sleep times are provided and if these are
Considerable change in children’s sleep development occurs in the first 3 years flexible enough to cater for individual children’s
of life. During this time children gradually transition from having multiple sleeps sleep needs.
throughout the day with more frequent night waking, through to having most • How to respond to changes and variations in a
of their sleep at night. During this period the number and regularity of naps child’s sleep, rest and relaxation needs.
decreases. By age three many children will be sleeping on some days and not
others, and about half will have ceased regular napping completely. The speed
and timing of this transition differs greatly from child to child.

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Learning and growth
In planning provisions for sleep, rest, and
relaxation consider:
Support children’s learning and physical growth by being
• Ways to identify sleep cues in different children,
responsive to children’s sleep cues.
such as eye rubbing, increased irritability, or
Sleep is critical for learning and growth. If opportunities to sleep do not match withdrawal from activities.
a child’s need this will impact on his or her alertness, ability to learn, and the
• How to respond appropriately to children’s
quality of social interactions. Being responsive to children’s sleep cues ensures
sleep cues.
that opportunities for sleep are provided at the right time for each child and can
also provide opportunities to help children to learn the importance of ‘listening • Ways to support children’s learning in the
to our bodies’. context of sleep, rest and relaxation.

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Environments
Provide sleep environments that are safe, predictable, and
supportive of children’s sleep, rest, and relaxation.
In planning provisions for sleep, rest, and
Children have difficulty sleeping in environments where they do not feel safe or
relaxation consider:
where routines are unpredictable. Lowering the level of light and noise, as well
as providing a cool room temperature and comfortable spaces for children, all • How to ensure practices align with current safe
help to support sleep, rest, and relaxation. sleeping guidelines.
For children below 12 months, sleep environments must comply with published • How to establish routines that are calm,
safe sleeping guidelines. For current Safe Sleeping Guidelines please refer to predictable and familiar for children.
www.sidsandkids.org . These guidelines change as more information becomes
available and should be accessed and updated regularly.

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Expectations In planning provisions for sleep, rest, and relaxation
Ensure that expectations for children’s sleep are consider:
realistic.
• How to respond to children who need sleep
In early childhood there is considerable individual and family variation in sleep at varying times of the day and of different
patterns and practices for children of the same age, and also changing patterns durations.
and practices across time. Some children will have more difficulty with sleep in a
• How to adjust sleep practices to meet the
group-based environment than others. Expect differences and respond flexibly.
diverse needs of different children.
Include a pre-sleep routine that is familiar and calming, and long enough to
give children the time they need to fall asleep.

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Partnerships In planning provisions for sleep, rest, and
Build partnerships with families to ensure regularity and relaxation consider:
consistency.
• Different strategies that could be used to support
Families hold different expectations about sleep that reflect parent beliefs, regular two-way communication with families.
cultural norms, and work patterns. Children may also be cared for in settings
• How to respond to differences in beliefs and
other than an ECEC service or their home (e.g. by their grandparents).
practices between educators and families.
Regularity and consistency of sleep is important for young children. To ensure
that sleep practices and timing are consistent with those at home and other • How to discuss with parents when a particular
care settings, ongoing communication with families is essential. It is also approach may not be appropriate or possible
important to recognise that sometimes parent requests may not be consistent within your service.
with safe or responsive practice, or be feasible within the group-based context.

The SLEEP program is funded by the Queensland Government Department of Education and Training

Sleep in Early Childhood

RESEARCH GROUP